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New "Blue Lives Matter" billboards up around Toledo

The electronic billboard on the corner of Erie near Monroe reads, “Blue Lives Matter” – a takeoff on the phrase “Black Lives Matter” – and a total of seven billboards with this message can be found in the Toledo area.

(WTOL) - A new billboard downtown leaves some people with questions as to who backed the message and what it means for the community.

The electronic billboard on the corner of Erie near Monroe reads, "Blue Lives Matter" – a takeoff on the phrase "Black Lives Matter" – and a total of seven billboards with this message can be found in the Toledo area.

On the bottom, below the message is a picture of a police badge and a hashtag that reads "#thankublu.

Toledo is not the only city where these billboards are popping up, they are all over the nation, and Lamar Outdoor Advertising is behind them.

Sue Hohenbrink, spoke on behalf of the company and said, "We love the message. It's just a matter of respecting police officers that put their lives at risk every day, doing their job to keep us safe."

Hohenbrink said anytime they have available space, Lamar gets behind opportune causes – tragedies or messages they feel are important to run on their billboard space. And, this particular message, "Blue Lives Matter", started in Memphis, TN.

After a donor purchased a billboard in Memphis to run "Blue Lives Matter", Lamar took the message to many other cities, including Toledo.

These billboards will continue to rotate until the end of October 2015.

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